Ninjas in Pyjamas have won another major title, defeating VeryGames 2-0 (16-9 on de_dust2_se and 16-1 on de_inferno_se) in the DreamHack Winter 2012 grand final to take home a ~$22,600 cheque.

The grand final of the biggest CS:GO tournament of the year, DreamHack Winter, pitted the same teams we saw in the final of the previous two international tournaments, NiP and VeryGames. The Swedes were, same as before, big favorites to take first place and earn the bigger cheque (~$22,600).

NiP selected de_dust2_se as the first map, same as at ESWC final and they started by winning their T-side pistol round. But VeryGames immediately replied by winning their eco and stopping a forced buy in the next round to get into the lead.

They increased that to 5-1 with three almost flawless rounds, taking control over the economy. A couple of rounds were exchanged, and then NiP started getting back into the game with Richard "Xizt" Landström getting 2 kills per round five times in a row to help the Swedes even the score at 6-6.

Kenny "kennyS" Schrub and VG's best player so far in the tournament, Cédric "RpK" Guipouy combined for 9 kills in the next two rounds to put the French team up 8-6 before NiP snatched the last round of the half.

NiP made the score 8-8, but then allowed VeryGames to plant on the eco that followed which enabled the French to buy two AWPs in the next round. Defending with 4 famases, the Swedish team managed to win the round thanks to Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund's 1-on-2 clutch which negated an impressive spray from Guipouy that took out 3 people just seconds before.

GeT_RiGhT clutched every time it was needed in the final

ESWC champions then went up 11-8, but VG replied right away, making the 21st round a very important one as both teams spent all their money going into it. It came down to the wire, with Nathan "NBK" Schmitt almost converting a 1vs3, but Alesund held his own to take out the Frenchman in their 1vs1.

That led to a 13-9 advantage for NiP which the Swedes soon converted into a 16-9 win, dropping only one round on their CT side.

A longer break took place before the second map, as the teams and their PCs were moved to the DreamArena Extreme to play the rest of the match on stage in front of a big crowd.

VeryGames picked de_inferno_se as the second map for the first time in their duels so far, but NiP won the knife round, getting to choose the side. Supported by their local fans who cheered on practically every frag by NiP, the Swedes took a 5-0 lead before VeryGames finally organized a successful attack.

But the Ninjas were in the zone and they didn't allow the Frenchmen to get more than 2 kills in the next three rounds, making the score 8-1. They continued dominating round after round, with all of their members on fire and crowd celebrating their every good move.

The fans cheered the loudest in round 13, when Alesund hid perfectly and made three excellent headshots to prevent a B push, putting NiP ahead 12-1. They were unstoppable until the very end of the half, changing sides with a 14-1 lead.

VeryGames were completely overrun, and with no break in half time, they were never going to come back from this deficit, even after getting to a 5-on-3 situation in the second pistol round. Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson, who played great in this map, along with Landström and Alesund turned the round around, with Alesund winning another 1vs1 clutch in the end. Last chance for VeryGames to potentially get back into the game fell through after another wasted 5-on-3, as their only good performer in the final, Guipouy, was left in an unlikely 1-on-2 which he was unable to convert and NiP became DreamHack Winter champions with a 16-1 win in the second map.

2 sourcers and 3 1.6ers won so stfu with your stupit comments...on topic: gg wp really nice game from nip thought verygames would take some more rounds but was a fun game 2 watch anyways.
and ofc I replyd to the wrong guy ^^

Yea well people are criticising their p250/grenade save rounds but they actually won a lot of those rounds, I think they just got into a position where they were so desperate to win a round that they were buying AKs every time they could.

Also it's not "source tactics" please don't act like this has anything to do with source/1.6 drama, just fuck off with that.

Early days, but good signs all round. RpK finally found his form again, yet the rest of the side let him down in the final. Teamwork for VG was crucial for them, yet it seems to be individual performances that seem to be the only thing happening for VG.

First of all i'm not a sauser, and if be serious, i don't have any fucks about who shox is, but i saw apEX in action @ CS:GO, and this guy looks absolutely dominating, also i know that he once was in VG at sauce, so i just trying to assume that this is would be a perfect addition by VG, cause they have some experience how to play with apEX in one team.
Anyway i really happy to see that VG can't dominating in GO just how they did in CSS.

"Why didn't they get it then?"
put VG in the same group as mouz were and i bet the highest they can come to is semi final (since they would be second in group and meet nip in semi finals, unless they would lose to fnatic in group and go home). you didnt think much before you wrote, did you?

VG made the finals, mouz didn't, doesn't that tell you anything? You can't say mouz was a better team since they didn't play eachother. You're able to compare their performance in each group, but you can't compare them team vs team since they never played eachother.

IN MY OPINION. Fyi, I actually think before writing, unlike the majority.

he didnt start it a lot earlier than neo and f0rest has been amazing from the beginning while neo is a noob at this game ... stop complaining about esc , fnatic was practicing 5 days and still raped esc..

neo doesn't have the GO exp atm, and he probably lacks the motivation to catch up with the top players, so I doubt he will become really good. but if either navi or fnatic really tries they will become way better than VG (assuming VG keeps these 5 players together)
but lets stop with the sourcers/CS1.6ers are better stuff, it's really needless. a few years from now we are probably all one big happy family (I hope), and I will be rooting for sourcers aswell if they are (or become) great players, doesn't matter one bit.

well its true there is way too much hatred between source and 1.6ers, and true that I feel obliged to stick up for ESC navi fnatic, as they are being called weak after a short bit of training.
but in a short time I will surely have my own favourites from the ex sourcers aswell, like atm I like to watch rattlesnake kennys and rpk if he is "on" for instance.
and prb aswell, though Id count him as a 1.6er ;)

they werent the best ? wtf are wrong with u people hahaha esc were best 2007 and arguably best with SK 2011 NOTHING MORE ? 2006 fnatic best ,2008 mTw were the best , 2009 fnatic, 2010 NaVi with the only truly opponent that year -->fnatic

It is a completely different game than source. Maps are 10x less room. Recoil is compeltely different. Movement is different. Models are different sizes. Hitboxes are smaller than css and 1.6. Do you wan't me to continue? If you don't believe me, I dare you open CSS and you will see how different the maps actually are.

not rly... since vg have been the best in source for a looooong time.... many years infact... have ANY 1.6 player/team done that? no...

oh and cogu was insain back in hes days... but thats many years ago... which he retired from back then... now... years later starting to play again now... do you rly think he would keep the same lvl of play with many years of inactivity??

Unfortunately, CS 1.6(recent years) was not dominated by one team for long time like VG did in CSS. ESC didn't dominate entirely but came out on top on many BIG tournaments and but that was not continuously like year after year. They were the best team in terms of teamplay, Na'Vi was the best team tactically. And the recent fnatic team and SK'2011 had the best team in terms of individual skills.

By recent years I meant 2009-2012 :( . Na'Vi was the BEST in 2010 for sure. But, in 2011 SK and ESC stole the show while Na'Vi consistently got podium finishes but few top of the podium. And in 2012, fnatic was unstoppable.

well sundes awping kind of helped alot ;D
it seems as though any team that dominated (except ESC/PGS and the 09 fnatic) for awhile had in common that they had an Xptionally talented sniper.
05 shaguar for NoA and walle for eye
06 coL and mibr had frod n cogu, fnatic had dsn (there was no team that really dominated that year)
07 PGS, Xption year
08 mTw sunde
09 Xptn year with gtr f0rest and gux making fnatic dominate, although dsn was still great I would not say he was the insane world best awper giving them the edge over other teams.
2010 markeloff navi
2011 delpan for SK
2012 multiple beastly awpers in fnatic (friis karrigan and even though he barely used it trace was sensational with awp aswell)
so far in CSGO they have not been able to bring their teams victories yet, as the best team has a mediocre awper but exceptional riflers and fragging IGL

definitely sunde was really good with awp but more because he was used the right way with the right tactics I think. that list is actually quite interesting, I an wondering if. you can in even further back, unfortunately my memory kind. of fools of then as I really cannot remember I wanna say that fisker was an extraordinary sniper as well but I just cannot remember :)

fisker vilden for SK yeah, but I would say elemeNt potti and spawn were key for most of SK's dominating before 2006
unfortunately I never saw a match before 2004 so I could not make a realistic list there ;x
I will however say from what I have read and seen in non live vids ksharpe and johnnyr seemed to have made quite the influence aswell.
and lets not forget lex who has let virtus pro shine in the past.
unfortunately for guys like sixer and fallen their teams always lacked a bit to bring them prices, because I think they would have earned them with their play (and chrisJ? :P)

Not again stupid comment.
STOP COMPARE ALL THE SCENES ALL THE TIME THIS IS A NEW GAME...................I wish there was a bf3 team raping everyone just to prove that anyone can be good............................

but tbh, mouse would never get to the final , if they faced VG.
Its not because they put more rounds against NiP , that are better then others.
Mouse would loose against VG, just because VG has so much strats (strats vs NiP dont work).
You really have to out aim him what is impossible atm.
Gtr and forest should be NERFED :D

Wow, NiP is gonna win some serious cash the following year if they keep up in the same pace and defeat VG and most probably Mouz and especially Fnatic as they may and most probably would improve within a matter of time.

Does HeatoN get a considerable portion of the prize money or does he just get a small amount.. ?

LOL, when mTw smashed all teams up in 2008 no one spoke that 1.6 is shit, omg i will not follow it and etc. Same was in 2009 when fnatic did exactly the same as mTw, and in 2010-11 when NaVi wons over and over again.

Technically speaking, the matches were not a washout then.
If you just replace the today's NiP-VG match with NiP-Mouz match, people would have said it was a better final

In 2011, i remember a semi final against SK VS Fnatic (i think). There was a triple overtime. Similarly with Na`Vi VS Fnatic
It just shows how close these teams are and gives a sense of excitement to the spectators

What does nostalgia have to do with any of this?
Bottom line : Closer matches = Evolution of the players.

VG used to trash other teams. They simply thought they are good enough. And they stopped moving forward.

And now see 1.6 history
2011 was just a mixed bag
Fresh from 2010, Na`Vi came to dominate the 2011 scence and suddenly SK comes with an unbeatable team, winning tourneys
All goes well and suddenly ESC comes. Then Na`Vi comes again. There was no clear "Team of the Year" in 2011 (Some say SK/ESC mixed)

But this gives something for the teams to look forward to. It means the 1.6 is very balanced, with a lot of top teams

Sorry to tell you this but the current VG are not the same team as they were back when they dominated. They are missing the best rifler og all time Shox. It would be like removing f0rest from a team and expect the team to do equally as good after.

He is/was in mellenium but he does not care much about playing anymore. His old team got kicked from an org (can't remember which one) for not giving a fuck. He was selected as the best player by the community two times.

Don't get me wrong, kennyS is a great player but it is a teamgame and the "god"-team people are talking about is not this one.

NiP isn` unstoppable. It will fall in important tournament someday and that day will come. I wouldn`t even bet on VG to accomplish that, even onliners WRTT beated them. But VG had 4 chances to beat them in finals and yet couldn`t manage to win a single map. The only chance to beat NiP in important matches is for team who`s thirsty enough to overcome handicap and win through sheer guts, because NiP are just too experienced at close matches to let any slips, unlike VG. My opinion.

Why not? They played really well in groups and almost tied NIP with a 16-14 loss. That should be a very good indicator of potential, don't you think? And to use your own argument - with only FIVE days of practice.

Congratulations to NiP. Not sure if i expected this result(NiP win) or close match between those two teams. But as far as my observation and opinion regarding NiP continuous winnings. I'd say it's because NiP focuses more into individual skills(more towards clutching and aimwise).

Though it's even obvious when i think about it with the help from gtr,forest and xizt. Those 1.6 trios have something in them that can only be acquired through years of experience in term of in-gamewise.

Friberg is amazing, i think he stepped it up and improved even to the 1.6 trios level. Fifflaren on the other hand, I think he does not live to expectation when in my opinion it's obvious he couldn't catch ups with the rest of his teammates. If he still performs like this in future then he should..

Anyway, fnatic and navi is the only hope as of right now that can potentially beat them in the upcoming tournaments.

I think fifflaren may not be performing as well as he could as he sort of is "forced" to awp, as the team does not have an awper.
or did he awp in source? because I am not at all impressed with his CSGO awp, but then again with the rifles he does seem good.

i don't understand all the hate towards Verygames.I mean they are the second best team in the "history of this game". I mean it's not that bad for them. When vg plays with another team you`re all like "vg all the way" , "vg easy". When they loose against nip you all think that they are shit.Your judgement has issues.

I just think people dont like that mouz got the harder side of the bracket, because they put up more of a fight both matches vs NiP, and feel mouz is stronger than VG, while currently their final placing represents a better result than mouz

Could the organizers of future tournaments please put VG and NiP in groups so they play each other in the quarters or semis? VG again has easy road to finals and gets smashed. Let NiP and VG play earlier I'm sick of every tourney putting them on opposite sides of the bracket

I'd say stratwise VG played very strong on D2, they have their teamwork down. However, it doesn't matter if you have perfect flashes, perfect smokes etc if f0rest kills the first two entering his site every single time. VG is forced to try to kill NiP by either flashing them or shooting them in the back, which is really tough. They need to improve individually, especially ex6tenz. He spends so much time on strats that he doesn't leave enough time to perfect his individual game. He needs to focus on his own shot and really hone it. I'm not sure if VG should change their roster, no one really sticks out as a weak link. Running a two awp setup is rough though, so I wouldn't mind seeing scream or shoxie sub in for smithz.

noo, im not hating or mentioneing 1.6 (but never 1.6 was so predictable) . but there is no other winner yet. its boring and i mean it, NIp NIp nip nip nip nip.... in 1.6 last years it was kind of boring but allways 5-6 teams compete and with the real chance, but here now in csgo? only ip man, next time better anothre team win and i say it to help csgo get more interest by outsiders, not already people of the cs comunities